The 27 Club, also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club or Club 27, is a name for a group of influential rock music artists who died at the age of 27. The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll details the history of the phenomenon.

The big ones from circa 1970 were Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison. More recently, Kurt Cobain. Amy Winehouse's name has already been added to the list at the link.

ALSO: My son Chris IM's: "this is the video i always thought would be referenced if she died young."

My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black...
We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black

Chris says: "and if you wanna see something really sad, here's her trying to perform the same song about a month ago"

"Her music was extraordinary," said local resident Tessa Crockett, 58, who bundled a bouquet of arum lillies to place outside a police cordon around Ms. Winehouse's flat. "She wasn't able to handle anything like the fame that she had. I feel very much for her parents."...

"She kind of started the whole 60s-style singer songwriting," said 23-year-old Natasha Wynarczyk, a Londoner who described the singer's style as "fierce" and sometimes copied Ms. Winehouse's beehive hairstyle on nights out. "She definitely spearheaded the movement for new female artists. At the time it was male dominated music or male-fronted bands."...

"She didn't want to be controlled," said 30-year-old Andrew Tunesi, an administrator from South London, who brought roses along with a friend to Ms. Winehouse's home. "She had a mind of her own and wanted to do her own thing."

Listening to a bunch of her songs again, she really was enormously talented. I'm also struck by the strangeness of hearing a contemporary popular musician's recorded voice without 100 pounds of digital pancake makeup.

Does some major biological change happen at 27 that causes excess to become terminal?

There may be. When I was in college, I could eat as much as I wanted and my weight wouldn't budge above 135 (I was a skinny kid.) If I was busy and not eating much, it would drop to 130 and not go below that.

When I was 26, I suddenly put on 15 pounds in eight months. Soon after, I was talking to some colleagues all around my same age and something similar happened to every single one of them. Between 25 and 27, they not only gained weight, but couldn't drink as much and hangovers got much worse and lasted longer.

My guess; we stop growing in our mid-twenties and it's all downhill from there.

She really was a tremendously talented girl. The fame she acquired she was not ready for. The perverse world of that fame overshadowed her will and her ability to be a functional human being who could have harnessed that talent in tremendous ways. She never got out of the fog because she was lost in it.

I have lost half a dozen friends over the years to the same compulsion to avoid conforming. They have died drunk and alone leaving a slipstream of misery and grief for their children and parents and exes.

"They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know knowI ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fineHe's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go

I'd rather be at home with rayI ain't got seventy daysCause there's nothingThere's nothing you can teach meThat I can't learn from Mr Hathaway

I didn't get a lot in classBut I know it don't come in a shot glass

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know knowI ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fineHe's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go

The man said 'why do you think you here'I said 'I got no ideaI'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my babyso I always keep a bottle near'He said 'I just think you're depressed,this me, yeah baby, and the rest'

Amy Winehouse

Narcissistic pop singer crashes and burns amidst the wreckage of modern pop culture.

"When I was 26, I suddenly put on 15 pounds in eight months. Soon after, I was talking to some colleagues all around my same age and something similar happened to every single one of them. Between 25 and 27, they not only gained weight, but couldn't drink as much and hangovers got much worse and lasted longer."

Yeah, that was about the age that I started to gain weight a lot faster. I'd always been pudgy, but around age 27 it really started to be a problem.

I wish these people could see with an objective eye what they do to themselves...unfortunately that doesn't happen very often.

Please, you get dissed if you have an objective eye. This society is culturally cancerous. What are the options on offer?

I blame a death like hers on those around us, who demand nonsense as a way of life, which is probably 75% of the population.

I don't consider most people - no matter how much money they have - to be any kind of support what-so-ever. We do this to each other, and then, when the inevitable happens, get all "so sad." Fuck all that noise:

I drink usually once a week-2-3 cocktails. That's all I can handle. After 2 drinks I am wasted.

As for drugs I have tried most everything once, except heroin, and never liked drugs. I always felt paranoid no matter what drug I tried. In my early 20's I was on a mission to find a drug that I would enjoy- without any luck. So everyone around me would be fucked up and I would be puking and wanting to go home. I realized that drugs were never my thing.

Sad. I don't know who wrote her songs but she had a sense of humor. I like that. She was edgy.-------------------------You can't sit down right, Cuz you jeans are too tight, And your lucky its ladies night.

With your big empty purse, Every week it gets worse, At least your breasts cost more than hers.

So you did Miami, Cuz you got there for free, But somehow you missed the plane.

An exit every bit as graceful as Judy Garland. Rather than commenting on her age and how it coincided with the deaths of other celebrities - I'd point out a more highly correlated element - and that is a network of people relatively close to her who stood around and let it happen. I'm talking agents, staff, publicity consultants, bandmates, etc. And the best part is that all of those folks who did nothing now get to appear on E! or in the tabloids, raking in $ to describe what it was like, without ever having to answer the question - why didn't you do something to help? Elvis's Memphis Mafia (apparently a bunch of bodyguards, roadies, staff and hangers on) actually sell hats, t-shirts and probably do their version of Grave-Line Tours to Graceland. And that story repeats itself over and over (Michael Jackson's entourage, etc., etc., etc.) and the press never asks.

I never listened to her stuff, except for "Rehab" which could not be avoided at its peak. I did love her trashiness - especially the "Daddy's Girl" tattoo.

"Oh yeah? Where are your reviews, calling you a genius - at anything?"

I don't need reviews to tell me that I'm a genius, though if you're interested there's a moldy old one in the NYT somewhere.

"I know you're a coward, which is the lowest thing a man can be, so your opinion less-than-matters."

Yet you just can't keep yourself from talking to me! Odd!

You sit at your computer and call nearly everyone pretty much every name in the book, yet you have this weird, narcissistic complex that makes you expect people to polish your knob and read your whiny shit. I don't know what to call that, but cowardice isn't bad.

Man, I love a good brawl at a funeral. I think Amy would appreciate it.

Rather than commenting on her age and how it coincided with the deaths of other celebrities - I'd point out a more highly correlated element - and that is a network of people relatively close to her who stood around and let it happen. I'm talking agents, staff, publicity consultants, bandmates, etc. And the best part is that all of those folks who did nothing now get to appear on E! or in the tabloids, raking in $ to describe what it was like, without ever having to answer the question - why didn't you do something to help?

Because they don't know how. This hippie/post-hippie era is of a lost generation. They can't even help themselves. And anyone who tries to help is almost considered the enemy.

Listen to Ann on that other thread with Rebecca Watson - Ann gets pissed because I'm sure of myself. How dare I be sure of myself? Anyone who is as sure of themselves as I am better have some money, or something else Ann finds impressive, because the idea that merely knowing shit has value isn't going to cut it - in her world or anyone else's. (Only Rush can be right 99.6% of the time, right?) No, people like me are to be crushed, ridiculed, put through the grinder, because the lowest common denominator expressions of worth make it easy to do that.

I've been saying I need money to make a difference in this world. How many here have contributed? Why not? I'll tell you:

Because, for whatever reason, you think you know better than I do - and you will only do what you think I need - not what I tell you.

Amy Winehouse needed some real and decisive friends, like me, not some mealy-mouthed, well you can look at it this way or that, bullshit assholes like most people. I don't care if you're college professors or billionaires, or whatever, most of you don't know shit and despise (and refuse to help) anyone who does.

I bought one of her albums from Amazon a couple of years ago and then immediately regretted it, not because it wasn't good music but because I realized that buying it was only going to enable her to keep hurting herself.

"I bought one of her albums from Amazon a couple of years ago and then immediately regretted it, not because it wasn't good music but because I realized that buying it was only going to enable her to keep hurting herself."

She would have kept hurting herself even if no one bought her records. Addiction like that is a rapacious beast that doesn't stop for lack of money.

I'm really sick of watching train wrecks like this because we're all supposed to feel sorry and lament the waste when they finally hit the wall.

No, I just can't have any sympathy for someone who destroys themselves in that way. madAsHell notes she died alone. Most likely after driving the people who did love her away - the rest were there as long as she brought in the money. It's a selfishness that only cares about what I like, what I want and to Hell with anybody else

traditionalguy said...

Karen Carpenter was only 32.

They all seemed to be under the control of a strong bondage to drugs or alcohol.

She was bulimic. Another form of self-destruction.

Titus said...

Alcoholics should have to watch videos of other Alcoholics.

It kind makes you not want to get piss drunk seeing another drunk.

It wouldn't make a dent on most hard core drunks. As they say at AA, "First, you have to hit rock bottom".

Agree completely. Stupid people surrounded by stupid friends who enable this kind of self-destructive behavior.

A guy I went to high school with recently died after falling off a train. He was a transient who used trains to get between Oregon, Idaho, and Berkley, CA. One of his friends told me about it and I asked where the hell they were during all this time he was smoking dope and riding around on trains. He seemed offended when I suggested that if even one person pointed out how dangerous and stupid that lifestyle is, the transient would still be alive today.

A guy I dated had this poster hanging on his wall in his room. He said he bought it when he was 27, and I thought that was dismal. He was a dismal person, though, and that caused us to stop dating. At least Janis looks really happy in the poster.

I really hope this scares La Lohan enough for her to get her shit together. I have low tolerance for people acting foolish and getting their comeuppance, but it's still sad when perfectly avoidable tragedies happen.

Dakota Fanning, don't think this doesn't apply to you, too! It starts with one extra Pepsi in the day, then by 15 you're riding the white horse.

I doubt that there was anything her friends could have done. She had a problem specifically because she was immune to such influence. That's the basic problem in these people. They know all about your disapproval, and warnings, and the risks. The still decide to live their way; sometimes out of weakness or stupidity, but sometimes out of stubbornness, narcissism, or just pure defiance. Regardless, there is little others can do for such people in a free society. You make your argument and you hope.

I don't see it as such a huge tragedy. It was her destiny. I bet she would do it all over again, rather than be the type of person who would meet our approval.

We're pattern-seeking animals. Around 27, as you begin the transition to full-adulthood, you lose the relativist pattern of young adulthood - one you were quite comfortable with, thank you very much.

"Should I stay or should I go?" is a logical question for the truly engaged among us.

As I've said, too many times before, this shit ain't all y'all try to make it up to be. Losers like Obama get rewarded. Even Scientologists win accolades while the deserving go hungry. Deepak Chopra is able to give political advice - in 2011 America, mind you - almost without question. Boomers have driven us to the poor house and left their unruly brats in their places.

And the rest of you stand on the sidelines being "open-minded."

We knew this was possible for Amy Winehouse.

Shit, that more people don't decide to check out - at any age - is the bigger surprise.

Sometimes, and that's more and more often today, it's just not worth it.

""Should I stay or should I go?" is a logical question for the truly engaged among us."

I don't think so. It's lack of engagement in life that leads to suicide. Even an angry Black man wants to get up tomorrow and scare some people.

Life has amazing depth and richness, even in the simplest of things. You can't engage it, without wanting more. I would only consider suicide if I was prevented from engaging in the world, i.e. prison, terminal illness, paralysis, or life in a leftist utopia.

I literally pine for more time every single day. I wish I never had to sleep, age or die. I honestly don't think I would get bored, or depressed. There is too much to see, learn and do. I even smile about the mortality that a wish to escape. The fact that I want more is just part of - and proof of - the beauty. Maybe I'm a freak, but I'm lucky like that.

I was aware of the name but had never seen a performance until I caught her on a MTV special last year when I was channel-flipping. I was totally caught off guard, her performance was stunning. Here was a unique voice, unique vocal phrasing and unique presentation. For all the overt sexuality there was a fragility, a vulnerability that came through. May she rest in peace.

A performer with a drug habit like Ms. Winehouse has a better chance of "riding the needle" out of this life than a convicted murderer on Death Row at San Quentin. Not that any of the guys waiting there mind Ms. Winehouse beating them "outahere".

I just think it's sad that people like her have such huge holes in their lives from pain or boredom or whatever, that they have to try to fill them up with booze and drugs. Obviously the fame and success weren't the right size or shape to fill the void. May she rest in peace.

Obviously late to the party here, but y'all left one person off the "Club of 27" list: Lead singer of band "Badfinger" Pete Ham who committed suicide 3 days before his 28th birthday.Does it take a 67 yr-old in mid -geezerhood to inform the hipster musical cognescenti branch of the Althouse clan? Come ON y'all, get with the program!

Dust Bunny Queen said "They were throwing her off of the ability to be creative with her timing and voice. You could see the annoyance and dislike of the audience in her eyes.

As a former professional musician, I can tell you from my own experience that there is nothing more gratifying than having an audience singing along with your songs, so I really doubt that was the problem. Also, on-stage or in-ear monitoring systems (when properly set up) generally prevent the performers from hearing much of what's going on in the crowd anyway, certainly not to a degree that would throw a performance.

No, unfortunately what you saw in that video was an extremely wasted Amy Winehouse unable to perform because she was, well, extremely wasted.

I never drank regularly in my teens/ 20s, but when I did I could process quite a bit for a slight female. I started getting the reactions you describe in my early 30s. Suddenly, I'd feel bad the next day. Not a killer hangover, but not good.

But then I started working out again, especially cardio, and w/i a few months I noticed I could process just as much as I could at 15 w/ little to no ill effects ...still can and I still do about 50 minutes of cardio a day.

I think the metabolic rate might slow down without help as you age - therefore slowing your bodies' recovery period.

It's just a theory.

I never could eat anything I wanted so I have no comment on that. It's probably more obvious for guys, since they generally have less metabolic limitations when they are younger.